Clean Air in London (CAL) has renewed its call for tougher action on air pollution after new evidence revealed widespread breaches of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) limits across the UK.
The campaign group is demanding that the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) be either scrapped or given stronger powers, with CAL founder and Director Simon Birkett saying the failures to take action are ‘totally unacceptable.’
This comes following Parliamentary questions from Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron which revealed that 16 towns and cities exceeded annual NO₂ legal limits in 2023, with compliance in some areas not expected until well into the 2030s.
Bristol and Sheffield are not expected to comply until 2031, with Birmingham and Stoke on Trent coming into line the following year. Newcastle is projected to remain in breach until 2045.
These limits, set at 40 µg/m³, are already four times higher than the World Health Organization’s guideline of 10 µg/m³.
The OEP is an independent watchdog established under the Environment Act 2021. Its roles include monitoring the government’s progress on environmental plans, assessing compliance with environmental law by public authorities, and taking enforcement action for serious failures. The OEP also advises the government on environmental law and investigates complaints.
CAL lodged a formal complaint with the OEP in July 2024, accusing Defra of breaching the Air Quality Standards Regulations. In May 2025, the OEP acknowledged “serious failures to comply with environmental law” but declined to use its enforcement powers, arguing that remaining exceedances were “relatively isolated” and that national trends were improving. The watchdog’s decision letter was final, leaving no route for appeal.
For CAL, this response highlights systemic failings. The group argues that Defra has been revoking rather than enforcing air quality directions, and that many local authorities lack clear plans to achieve compliance. ‘It’s a shambles,’ CAL declared, calling on new Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds to commit to urgent compliance in the forthcoming Environmental Improvement Plan and Clean Air Strategy.
CAL also backs wider reforms, including Sian Berry MP’s Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill, aka Ella’s Law. The campaign group is urging Parliament to support the bill ahead of the 70th anniversary of the first Clean Air Act in 2026.
CAL stresses that the government’s inaction is not only a breach of environmental law but also a violation of human rights obligations to protect citizens from harmful pollution.
Ultimately, CAL insists that without stronger enforcement, tougher legal standards, and renewed political will, the UK will continue to expose millions of people to dangerous levels of pollution for decades to come.
Simon Birkett said: ‘Defra’s failure to comply with the nitrogen dioxide annual limit value for more than 15 years, and estimates that it will take another five to 20 years, are totally unacceptable.
‘Further, the OEP’s unwillingness or failure to use its enforcement functions defies belief – particularly after CAL has highlighted expected legal breaches to 2026 – 2032 and 2045. It suggests that the OEP may have failed to fully understand the purpose, strength and wide applicability of ‘limit values’ and the right to life of those in so-called ‘relatively isolated’ locations. London has shown that limit values can be achieved much faster than expected.
‘These failures have been compounded by the Government’s disastrous ‘environmental’ strategy which has been a masterclass in diversion, channelling public outrage toward ‘nature recovery’ and water company scandals – such as unchecked sewerage spills – to shield it from scrutiny on other topics such as air pollution, human rights and the protection of public health. This is a great concern and must stop now.
‘CAL finds these legal breaches and the failures to take action totally unacceptable. CAL is calling therefore for the OEP to be scrapped (or preferably given new duties and powers) and Emma Reynolds MP, the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to pledge urgent compliance with air quality laws, including NO2 limit values and in the forthcoming EIP and Clean Air Strategy, and a new Clean Air Act.
‘They must both be held accountable.
‘CAL is calling for the Government to support the Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill – Ella’s Law – proposed by Sian Berry MP and supported by many others, including in the next King’s Speech, to right these wrongs before the 70th anniversary of the first Clean Air Act on 5 July 2026.
‘Last but not least, we need a new Parliamentary Super Inquiry to take forward the evidence produced for the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into outdoor and indoor air quality targets in 2023 and the latest evidence from CAL.’
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